OT: Champions League final discussion & live thread

The Champions League final has finally arrived, after months of build up. It features a pair of unlikely semifinal winners, as Chelsea and Bayern Munich upset Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively. The game will be played in Allianz Arena (home to Bayern Munich), which most say will benefit Bayern. Both teams come in with multiple players suspended for yellow cards in the semi-finals, with Chelsea hit slightly harder. Bayern plays a very meticulous, attacking style, focusing on good passing and good wings capable of shooting as well as crossing. Chelsea plays more of a deep, counter-attacking style, featuring star playmaker Didier Drogba at striker. Bayern is normally amazing at home, but in a game of this magnitude with this much emotion, all of that goes out the window.

The winner gets a trophy, bragging rights, and a large cash reward. Beyond that, the implications in the English Premier League are huge, as if Chelsea win they will take a 2012-13 Champions League spot from my beloved Spurs.

And before you soccer haters show up and ask "who cares," last year over 300 million people watched the final, much more than the super bowl. So please, if you don't like soccer, keep it civil.

Also, at 10:00 on Fox Soccer, Blackpool takes on West Ham in the Championship play-off final. The winner gets a spot in the English Premier League next year, and the 90 million (!!) pounds that go with that. The loser stays in the Championship (the second tier league), and has to put up with at least one more year of financial woes. Steam at firstrowsports.eu

The stakes are absolutely massive for Tottenham, even though we aren't playing. Win and we get a spot in the CL next year, along with a cash prize, and the ability to lure in top players over the offseason. Lose and not only do we have to put up with the Europa League, but we would likely lose 3 or 4 of our best 5 players, and would be unable to pull and good players over the offseason. This is without a doubt one of the most important games in recent memory for Tottenham.

Bayern on this one. Although I love watching Lampard and Torres, there is no love lost on Abromovich, Terry, and Drogba. Besides, if Chelsea wins they might shun the "always a bridesmaid never a bride" stigma and we can't have that. With all the financial resources available, I can't decide if Real Madrid or Chelsea are the biggest underachievers.

Also tonight on ESPN2 at 10:30 the Galaxy play Chivas USA, it will be interesting to see if Juan Agudelo sees the field tonight after being traded from NY. You wouldn't expect a guy to play after just a couple practices with the team but Chivas is desperate for some offense so it is a possibility.

I'm pulling for Bayern because I don't want Spurs, who I think deserve a place in the Champions League, to be knocked out. Chelsea were absolute crap this year in the EPL, but they are playing to be European champion -- go figure.

Bad news is I knocked the satellite dish while mowing the lawn, and I can't get the thing lined back up :(

Also worth noting that performance in Europe and the UEFA statistics pulled off of that probably understantes the level of the EPL, since the strenght of the league is its quality top-to-bottom (cf. Spain with the two best teams in the world, then a huge drop, then the Valencia/Atletico/Sevilla level, then some real crap-ass-Championship-level teams in the bottom half of the league)

Even though I do not root for either Cherlsea or Munich, I would rather see Spurs go on to the CL after finishing fourth in the EPL than Chelsea for their great run in the CL. Doesn't seem fair for Rednapp and the boys to go to Europa after a great season. Just hoping for a well played match.

It's like rooting for the Yankees no matter who you cheer for in this match. But I think Bayern is the lesser of two evils. And I don't want Tottenham to be robbed of a well-deserved CL spot by Chelsea who has underachieved all season up until the knock-out stage.

If Bayern loses, they only have themselves to blame. Had so many opportunities and just could not close them out. Chelsea has already made a couple of comebacks in the knock-out stage. Maybe they have another.

I've always thought soccer should allow teams to get an additional sub or two for extra time. Three substitutes might be enough to go 90 minutes, but to go another 30 on top of that, you should be allowed more fresh legs. Cramping always seems to be an issue in extra time as it is.

Penalty shootouts are fun to watch when you don't really care who wins (which was the case for me today). If you have a rooting interest, though, it's a pretty crappy way to decide a champion. It's just so . . . random.

What an assassin! Chelsea finally strokes their name upon the cup. What a statement for the EPL as a league. Chelsea knocks out Barcelona in Barcelona and then puts Bayern to the sword....in Munich for good measure. What Di Mateo has done the past few months is simply astonishing. The Blues!

But there are plenty of big-spenders who didn't win anything. Spending a lot, in and of itself, is not a guarantee of success. (The converse - that not spending is a virtual guarantee of not succeeding - is more accurate, granted, although Montpellier in France is an exception.)